Lakeland’s board fired the city manager, Chris Thomas, in a split vote at the Jan. 20 city board work session.
Thomas had served in the role for one year, amid growing criticism from a majority of the city’s commissioners. They iterated their issues with Thomas’s work in a lengthy Jan. 8 work session.
They complained about problems with the chain of command, overuse of privileges, inaccessibility, tardiness in hiring a senior center coordinator, failure to maintain email confidentiality and problems with the contract terms for the city’s garbage and recycling pickups.
In response, Thomas acknowledged errors, cited successes and said he was willing to work with the board to improve.
After the Jan. 20 vote to fire him, Thomas thanked all the Lakeland citizens who spoke to the board in his favor at that meeting.
Thomas added, “I’d like to thank the commissioners for a year ago giving me this opportunity. Sorry things haven’t worked out, but I truly have enjoyed serving the citizens of Lakeland and working with this awesome staff. … I’ve been serving the public for over 25 years, and I always tried to leave a job better than when I got there, and I truly believe that we’ve done that.”
Vice mayor Sherri Gallick summed up her views on Thomas’s termination, saying she had followed due diligence in evaluating his job performance but she believes he does not have all the skills needed, including critical thinking skills, situational awareness and logistics of management.
She said, “This is not about the past. This is about moving forward, and moving Lakeland forward.”
Mayor Wyatt Bunker and commissioner Randy Nicholson voted against firing Thomas. Nicholson said the vote was premature.
“I would like for this board to seriously search their conscience,” he said. “… It’s our duty to place the benchmark there. And I’m not sure whether this board did that. And if we didn’t do that, and we then punish the city manager for not reaching some mark that we didn’t place, it’s on us.”
Bunker also spoke up in Thomas’s favor, saying, “I do know Chris and the job he’s done. I think he’s done a fine job as city manager. I think, given fair consideration, that reasonable minds would conclude the same, but we’re not there. Majority rules here, and they direct the city, and that’s it. It is what it is.”
What’s ahead for Lakeland’s leadership
Jim Atkinson, the city’s director of planning and administration, will continue in that role and also work as interim director until a new city manager is selected.
He said Tuesday that the board has not yet advertised for a new city manager. They will discuss the replacement search parameters, time frame for the process and the interim job priorities at the Feb. 5 Lakeland city board’s work session.
For now, Atkinson’s emphasis is on maintaining the city’s basic services and continuing in existing projects (such as hiring a new parks and recreation director) with support from his colleagues.
“We have a really good team in here,” Atkinson said. “We have a lot of good teamwork.”
